Gone No More
by Jewel08
Summary: The Planet and the Goddess Minerva have had enough. The world is headed for disaster, and so they intervene. Using the wish of an honorable man, they send back the two people who have suffered even more than Cloud Strife in their too-short lives.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: New story! Don't you guys love me? This is not time-travel, but it does involve two characters returning to life. Just because I can't stand the thought of them staying dead. I hope you guys like it just as much as 'I Want to Live', and don't forget to Fav, Follow, and Review!**

Chapter One

 _Dark the stars and dark the Moon_

 _Hush the Night and the morning loon_

 _Tell the horses and beat on your drum_

 _Gone their Master, gone their son_

 _Dark the Oceans, dark the Sky_

 _Hush the Whales and the ocean tide_

 _Tell the salt marsh and beat on your drum_

 _Gone their Master, gone their son..._

-Gone, Ioanna Gika

"What is it, Angeal?" Sephiroth asked his oldest friend, coming to a stop beside the other man.

Sephiroth and Angeal were currently in the limitless expanse of the Lifestream. They stood together watching Angeal's only student Zackary "Zack" Fair talk with his girlfriend, the lovely Cetra Aerith Gainsborough. It would've been a very touching and normal scene... if not for the fact that they were all dead. And that right there was Angeal's problem.

"Zack shouldn't have died," Angeal said, arms crossed over his chest and mouth turned down. Sephiroth winced. Whenever his fellow SOLDIER used _that frown_ , it was never a good sign. It meant he wasn't happy, and usually nobody wanted that.

"Neither of them, Zack or Aerith, should've," the raven-haired man continued. "They had so much of their lives to look forward to together, and instead this is what they get."

"Yes," Sephiroth agreed. "Their situation is a result of what everyone else, and we, have done, yet it is they who were punished for it."

 _So what would you do to give them happiness?_

All of them, not just Angeal and Sephiroth, had heard that whispered question and whirled, their eyes widening. The Goddess Minerva stood before them, in all Her glory, blue eyes serious and golden armor shining in the light of the Lifestream. Beside Her stood another figure.

The woman was tall and modestly curved, with long, midnight-black hair tied into a braid. Her eyes were a piercing silver, filled with such power and wisdom, yet sadness and pain that no one could look Her in the eye, not even Sephiroth. She wore a long silk dress that brushed the floor and was the same green as the Lifestream around them. The cloak she wore was a light shade of blue, and there were golden bracelets on her wrists that jingled when She moved. The necklace around her neck was shaped like wings, shining with inner light much like Materia.

"The Planet," Aerith breathed. The last Cetra got on her knees, bowing her head. Zack followed his girlfriend's example, as did Angeal and Sephiroth.

"My Children," the Planet said, holding out Her arms. "You do not have to bow to Me. Rise, My Faithful Daughter." The Planet kissed Aerith upon her brow. Then she came to Angeal and Sephiroth. "My Sons, be at ease. Especially you, Sephiroth, for you are no longer the Calamity's Son." She helped them to their feet, giving each of them a kiss as well. Then the Planet turned to Zack, who was the only one now able to look her in the eye.

"My Favored Son," the Planet murmured fondly. Minerva walked up, tilting Zack's head back slightly.

"Zack Fair, Aerith Gainsborough..." the Goddess said, "We have heard Angeal Hewley and Sephiroth Valentine's wish. So We both have come to answer."

The Planet grew serious. "Jenova interfered in your destinies. You two were meant for great things, together. But now, Jenova is defeated yet I have still lost to the Calamity. My Children are all dead now, my Champion nearly broken."

Minerva spoke now. "Yet thanks to Angeal Hewley and Sephiroth Valentine's unselfish wish, we have a solution." Both the Planet and the Goddess shared a mischievous smile as they raised their hands.

Zack and Aerith didn't even have time to gasp before light struck their hearts. Both SOLDIER and Cetra vanished from the Lifestream, and then the two women turned to the two men.

"We have a mission for the both of you as well: should you choose to accept it, you will be able to help your friends and those you wronged..."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

When Zack began waking up, the first thing that registered was that he was curled around something. Second thing was that that something was female. When one eye managed to cooperate with him and opened, Zack saw long brown hair and a light pink ribbon.

Aerith groaned softly and stirred in Zack's arms, making his stomach flutter. Goddess, why did she always have to be so beautiful?

The Cetra woke up much the same as Zack, and a light pink blush spread across her cheeks when she saw where she was curled up.

They both sat up, carefully and slowly, and looked around, hoping to see something familiar as their surroundings. They were laying on a large bed of flowers, and beyond the flower bed was the familiar building of the Sector Five church. It was a little more run-down than before Zack's death, but otherwise looked the same.

"Is this... what the Planet and Minerva did?" Zack asked curiously.

Aerith nodded, then her eyes landed on something behind her boyfriend. She gasped, green eyes wide, and Zack turned, wondering what she'd seen.

The Buster Sword stood proud and gleaming in the sunlight, looking like Cloud had never used it to defeat Sephiroth. Zack could almost believe that Cloud had come here and planted it there right after Zack had passed it on to him before his death. The SOLDIER rose to his feet, wobbling a little, and walked over to it. His hand rose to grasp its hilt, and Zack let out a breath when he finally did.

Zack yanked the Buster Sword out of the floorboards easily, putting it on his back in its familiar position. Then he turned back to Aerith, saying, "We need to talk to Cloud."

Aerith nodded. "We'll need to get to Edge somehow, then." She looked to her right and saw her staff leaning against a pillar, so she walked over and picked it up, twirling it in her hands a couple of times before smiling. It felt good to have it in her hands again. Zack smiled, and they both walked out of the Church.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Tifa absentmindedly cleaned the bar counter while keeping an eye on Denzel and Marlene. Cloud was on a delivery and said that he'd spend the night at the Church before getting home the next morning. She smiled, humming a little.

There was a knock on the door, and when Tifa looked up, coming through into the room were two people that Tifa'd thought she'd never see again.

In a flash, Tifa leapt over over the counter and took a fighting stance in front of the children, who took cover behind her, and pulled on her gloves.

One person she'd only seen once, in Nibelheim the week that her hometown had burned. A tall, broad-shouldered man with spiky black hair that reached his shoulders. A First Class SOLDIER uniform. Mako-blue eyes. And more importantly, the Buster SWord on his back, the sword that should still be in Aerith's Church before Cloud moved it to where his best friend had actually died.

Zack Fair, First Class SOLDIER, Lieutenant, Second Owner of the Buster Sword, and the one who was murdered by the very company he'd served while protecting Cloud.

But it was the second person, standing beside Zack, that felt like a sucker punch in the gut.

Long brown hair pulled back in a braid, with a pink ribbon tied at the top. A similar pink ribbon was also tied onto every AVALANCHE member's arm. Warm green eyes and a gentle smile. A pink dress that reached her ankles, short-sleeved red jacket, and worn brown boots. A staff held in her hand that was currently resting at her side.

Aerith Gainsborough, the last Cetra, the one who'd summoned Holy to stop Sephiroth, and the one who'd been murdered by said man for doing so.

"Who are you?" Tifa asked harshly. "How did you get those weapons? Answer me or I'll tear you apart!"

"Tifa, it's really us," the one who looked like Aerith said, trying to reassure the angry barmaid.

When the martial artist didn't move, the Zack look-alike said, "I'll prove it, Tifa. You lived in Nibelheim, and you were also the one who was our guide up the mountain. When Sephiroth burned the town and killed almost everybody in it, you went after him. That's where I found you, bleeding from the wound Sephiroth gave you on your chest. You said you hated Sephiroth, you hated Shin-Ra, you hated SOLDIER, and you hated me."

Tifa gasped. Only Zack could've possibly known that; after hearing Cloud talk about what Zack went through and how the man had died, Tifa had been so ashamed of what she'd told him that day. She'd sworn never to tell Cloud.

Aerith smiled. "Tifa... don't you remeber me dressing Cloud up as a girl?"

Zack let out a huge guffaw. "I remeber seein' that from the Lifestream! I would'a died from how hard I'd laughed if it had been possible!"

Aerith went a little pink.

Tifa let her hands fall. "A...Aerith? Zack?" she whispered. They both nodded, Zack still grinning. The children peered around Tifa's legs, eyes locked on Aerith and the cool-looking SOLDIER.

The barmaid ran forward and embraced Aerith, _needing_ more than anything to know that her best friend was truly real. When she felt that Aerith was solid, feeling the Cetra hug her back, Tifa then embraced Zack.

"Can you ever forgive me for what I said that day, Zack?" she asked. "I've been so ashamed that I said those terrible things to the man that tried to stop Sephiroth and later saved Cloud's life!"

Zack laughed. "'Course I can, Tifa. I know you didn't mean it. You'd just lost your father and your hometown, after all."

Tifa gave a weak chuckle and let Zack go, wiping at her eyes. Then she turned to the kids. "These are Malene and Denzel, you two," she said. "Marlene, Denzel, I'd like you to meet Aerith Gainsborough, the flower girl we've mentioned a couple of times, and Lieutenant Zack Fair, SOLDIER First Class."

"Nice ta meet you two," Zack said. He knealt down to look the kids in the eye. Aerith giggled; she remembered that Zack had always had a special way with kids.

Denzel was in awe of the huge SOLDIER that looked really strong and had that cool sword on his back, while Marlene was eyeing Zack's longer-than-normal hair, wanting more than anything to play with it.

"Tifa?" Aerith asked. "Where's Cloud?"

"On a delivery right now," Tifa replied, going back to the bar counter. Zack and the kids followed, talking about swords, fighting, and various hair styles (that last bit was all Marlene). "He said he'll spend the night in the Church and be back in the morning."

"Shit," Zack swore. Tifa didn't scold him for his use of language around the kids because he looked panicked enough as it was.

"What?" both she and Aerith asked.

Zack looked at the Buster Sword, and it hit Tifa like a load of bricks. "He'll see that the Buster Sword's gone and think someone took it!" she exclaimed.

Aerith thought about it. "But... there isn't much we can do about it. It _is_ Zack's sword. We'll just have to explain what happened to Cloud when he gets back here."

Tifa and Zack reluctantly nodded, then the barmaid said, "You two will probably have to stay upstairs tonight; people are still jumpy about SOLDIER, and most customers here know that Aerith's dead. Well, supposed to be. Cloud's room is still free, and I know he won't mind you guys using it tonight."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

In the ruin that was once known as the Sector Five Slums, in an old run-down church, a pew was destroyed by the gleaming edge of a sword. Blue-green eyes narrowed in anger as he looked at what was not there.

 **First Chapter done! How'd I do? I think I'll explain some things before I end this chapter. This is about a year after the original game, so a year before Advent Children starts. Cloud hadn't put the Buster Sword out where Zack died yet, so that's why he placed it in the Church, for safekeeping. And I don't know what actually happened to Aerith's staff (I haven't actually played the original FFVII) so that's why I decided that her friends had placed it in the Church after Sephiroth was defeated and she was dead.**

 **Advent Children is going to turn out differently because of what the Planet and Minerva did, so I can't wait till we get there! I'm so excited!**

 **Hopefully you guys understood how Aerith and Zack returned to life. The Goddess and the Planet basically used Angeal and Sephiroth's wish to get their way. Otherwise, Zack and Aerith would still be in the Lifestream.**

 **Next chapter: our favorite blond chocobo makes an appearance, and he realizes what's going on. Sephiroth and Angeal's fates are revealed!**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Here's Chapter Two! I hope you guys realize who was at the end of last chapter, but if you didn't figure it out, he's in the very beginning of this one. Also... there's a very good chance that my area will flood during this week, so if that happens, I won't be able to post new chapters for ANY of my stories until the waters go back down.**

Chapter Two

As he steered Fenrir towards Edge and the Seventh Heaven bar, Cloud's thoughts whirled and his eyes were almost glowing greater than normal with his anger.

The Buster Sword was gone. Someone had taken it. Just walked into the church and walked off with it!

The sword that Zack had used. The one he, Cloud, had received when Zack had been murdered.

Cloud's memories from Zack were hazy and jumbled up a little (though nowhere near as bad as Cloud's from before Zack's death), but he remebered Commander Hewley, Zack's own mentor and SOLDIER First Class. His name was... Cloud had to dig a little... Angeal, right? Yes, he was pretty sure. Anyway, Angeal had been the first to wield the Buster Sword.

 _That sword represents our family's honor..._

Cloud didn't know who said it, but his gut told him it was about Angeal, and the man's family. So the blond felt even worse about the sword being stolen.

Even though he'd never met the man.

The blond was so distracted, his thoughts whirling with that tinge of anger in his mind, that he barely remebered to stop Fenrir and dismount it before going into the bar. Tifa, he knew, would _not_ appreciate a hole in her wall. His sword was in the harness on her back, Cloud's fingers itching to use it on the asshole that was desecrating his best friend's memory and legacy.

Tifa looked up when Cloud came in, her ruby eyes serious but welcoming. "Welcome back, Cloud."

"Have you seen anyone enter the bar with the Buster Sword, Tifa?" Cloud asked bluntly.

"...Yes," Tifa admitted. "They got here last night."

"Who was it?" Cloud demanded, fists clenched. His whole body was shaking with rage, though he knew it wasn't Tifa's fault. She probably didn't know the depth of the sword's history and what it meant to other people, not just Cloud.

"There were two of them, but Cloud-"

She was interrupted by a yelp and thud from upstairs. There were more thuds, and a body came down the stairs, groaning slightly.

Spiky black hair. Blue-violet eyes. An x-shaped scar on his left cheek. Against all logic, possibility, and reason, Zack Fair was lying on the bottom of the stairs.

Seeing Cloud standing there, frozen in disbelief and shock, Zack painfully got to his feet. First Class SOLDIER or not, falling down stairs always hurt. "Hey Spikey!" he said cheerfully. Cloud didn't-couldn't-move, so Zack yelled up the stairs, "Hey, Cloud's here!"

More footsteps, and Cloud barely managed to keep from passing out when he saw who it was. The blond heard roaring in his ears and he grabbed a chair blindly, not able to look away from the two people closest to him.

"Aerith...?" he whispered. "Zack...?"

It wasn't that often that Zack Fair, the Puppy, was serious, but there was no hint of humor or joking in his face as the First Class walked up to Cloud. The blond noticed that he still had to tilt his head back (damn it) to look Zack in the eyes.

Without warning, Zack pinched Cloud, causing the latter to let out a curse. "What the hell, Zack?!" The Puppy just grinned.

"See? I'm real, and you're not dreaming. Aer's real, Cloud."

"But how...?" Cloud asked in a near whisper. "I remeber it; I still have nightmares about the days you and Aerith died! You two visited me, from the Lifestream! How are the two of you standing here, alive?!"

"It was entirely Seph and 'Geal's fault," Zack aid immediately and unashamedly. "Don't look at me like that, Cloud. You didn't know Sephiroth like I did before Nibelheim; Jenova completely took control of him and he's only been back to his old self since you killed him. But anyway, apparently Seph and Angeal wanted us to truly live since we died so young, so the Planet and the Goddess used that to send us back here. We woke up at the Church yesterday; I was the one who took the Buster Sword. Sorry 'bout that..."

"N-no, it's fine," Cloud stuttered. Holy Gaia, the _Planet_ and the _Goddess_?! "I-I've always considered it to be more your sword than mine anyway."

Zack huffed. "I gave it you for a reason, Spikey. But I guess you don't need the Buster anymore... you have the one that disassembles now, right?"

"Are... Sephiroth and the other man you mentioned coming back to life as well?" Tifa asked. She'd come over to hear the reason why Zack and Aerith were back; the two had said last night that they wanted to wait until Cloud was there so they only had to explain once.

Aerith shrugged. "If the Planet and the Goddess will it."

"I hope so," Zack said.

Silence fell for a few minutes as Cloud thought everything over. A thought struck him, so he said, "If... if you need a job Zack, now that SOLDIER is gone...I'd be glad for you r help in my delivery service."

Zack grinned and gave Cloud a hug, messing up the blond's hair. "Aw, thanks, Spikey!" Cloud huffed and tried to look annoyed, but his smile, which was truer and brighter than Tifa or Aerith had ever seen before, ruined it. No one (except total scumbags like Hojo, Hollander, and President Shinra) could or would ever resist Zack's naturally cheerful personality.

"I think I'll start my flower business again," Aerith said. Tifa smiled. It's be nice to have flowers all around Edge, like how Aerith was making Midgar before everything was shot to hell.

"Hey, Aerith?" Cloud asked. "I've been wondering... how much did Zack affect your life? I... don't think you ever told me how you met. You just mentioned you guys liked each other."

Aerith, surprisingly, blushed. "He fell through the roof of my church, and then he offered me one date as thanks for waking him up. We... went to the marketplace together and that's where he bought me my pink ribbon. He said I should wear more pink." That was news to Cloud and Tifa. They'd never known that Zack was the one responsible for that.

"Hey, don't forget you started selling flowers in the first place because of me!" Zack said.

"Really?" Tifa asked.

"Yeah!" the Puppy exclaimed. "I'd told her that since they were really rare in Midgar she should sell them."

Aerith lifted an eyebrow, one corner of her mouth lifting. "I think his exact words were...'Midgar's full of flowers... your wallets full of money!' I didn't know until later how right he was, though..."

Tifa and Cloud laughed. That did sound exactly like Zack.

Zack looked at Aerith with love in his eyes, a gentle smile playing on his lips. "You were so scared of the sky at first... so I told you I'd take you to see the real sky someday. Guess that was one promise I couldn't keep after all, since you went and saw it without me."

Aerith nodded. "You were absolutely right, Zack. I can't imagine why I was scared of it once."

"You guys are so perfect together," Tifa said, cleaning forgotten while she leaned over the bar counter. "Right, Cloud?"

Cloud nodded, smiling at Zack's embarassment and Aerith's blush. He'd missed both of them so much, especially Zack, and Cloud was so thankful that the Planet and the Goddess had sent them back. Seemed like, for once, he owed Sephiroth and Commander Hewley.

"So, Spikey..." Zack's voice jerked Cloud out of his thoughts. "thanks for gettin' me a job. But... do you two know anywhere we can get a place to stay?"

Cloud blinked. That's right; Zack had his own space in Shin-Ra until he got to First Class. Then, once he had the money, he got an apartment somewhere in Midgar, out on the edges of the city since he liked seeing the countryside, barren as it was. And Aerith's adoptive mom, Elmyra, moved away after she'd learned that Aerith was dead.

"Your apartments still intact, Zack," Cloud said. "I've gone there a couple of times since I remembered you. Still in good condition, surprisingly. I couldn't believe Shin-Ra didn't ransack it, after..."

Zack's eyebrows rose after Cloud trailed off. "Wow... I completely forgot about my apartment."

Aerith smiled. "You have room for a roommate, right Zack?"

The SOLDIER blinked, then he blushed bright red when he realized that Aerith wanted to live together. Like... married couples do. "S-sure, Aer. I, um... I'd like that, if you're okay with it."

Tifa laughed. "Just make sure that you two don't go overboard, okay?"

Aerith gave a look of innocence that none of them believed for one second. Then she looked at Zack appreciatively. "Overboard? Whatever do you mean?"

Zack gave a laugh this time, sidling closer to the woman he loved. "I think she's sayin' we'd need to get married before we go any further than kissing."

"You move fast, Mr. Fair," Aerith teased. "I haven't even gotten a kiss from you, and you're already talking about getting married!"

Again, that surprised Cloud and Tifa until they thought about it.

The Puppy's eyes softened. "Yeah... I had been planning on tellin' how I felt about you when I came back from that mission to Nibelheim, but I... I never got the chance. An' the next time I saw you was when I came to bring you to the Lifestream."

Fortunately, the conversation turned to lighter, happier topics after that until it was time for Seventh Heaven to open for the night.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Zack and Aerith were in Cloud's room, since the blond had insisted on taking the couch until Zack moved to his old apartment with Aerith, winding down as the night fell. Aerith took off her red jacket, placing it on the bed before undoing her hair. It fell down her back in soft waves, the pink ribbon fluttering slowly to the floor. Zack stared; in all his life and time in the Lifestream, he had never seen anything so beautiful.

Then, when she offered the hairbrush to him, Zack eagerly accepted immediately. They'd done this a few times before, mostly after Angeal died, when Zack needed something to do. The motions were always so calming, somehow, and it was usually all Zack needed.

Zack hummed an old Gongagan song as he continued brushing Aerith's hair. He didn't even realize he was doing it; this was just something he did without thinking when brushing the Cetra's hair. Zack had quite a lovely voice, Aerith thought to herself.

When he was done, Aerith took back the hairbrush so he could get comfortable. Zack took off the SOLDIER armor and metal harness for the Buster Sword, which was standing in the corner of the room, and then he took off the black turtleneck that served as his shirt. Suddenly, Aerith felt way too warm.

Cloud was more lean, though still muscled, and Angeal was built like a giant juggernaut. Zack fell... somewhere in the middle. Aerith couldn't help admiring his broad shoulders, toned muscles, and overall gorgeous figure. Zack grinned. The jerk, he knew exactly what the Cetra was thinking.

Zack gestured, and Aerith sat herself in his lap. The SOLDIER's warm, large hands briefly touched her shoulders, then they moved to her hair. His fingers threaded through the silky brown strands, carefully redoing the simple braid Aerith was so known for. And the pink ribbon was retied in its usual spot once Zack was done. Zack pressed a kiss to Aerith's neck, then the man chuckled and started to pull away.

"Oh, no, you don't," Aerith whispered aggressively. The Cetra turned and grabbed a hold on the back of Zack's neck. Before the stunned Puppy could react, their lips met.

Their first kiss was everything Aerith could've wished for. It was sweet and innocent. Zack's lips were soft and warm, and he tasted like chocolate. Zack held a hand to he cheek while the other lightly touched her waist. Aerith could feel its weight through her dress.

When they finally pulled away, Zack's eyes were the happiest she'd ever seen them. He rested his forehead against his. "We both waited too long for that," he breathed.

Aerith smiled. "Yet not it happened," she whispered back. "I would never want another man other than you, Zack."

0o0o0o0o0o0o

"Jenova wants WHAT?!" Sephiroth and Angeal shouted.

The Planet and Minerva's expressions didn't change. "You heard Us," Minerva said. "The Calamity has already started her plans. The Geostigma has begun. You, Sephiroth, are her unwitting tool, the one she's using here in the Lifestream to further her plans. She will call you to life in hopes of crushing Cloud Strife and his spirit for good."

Angeal snorted. "Zack and Aerith would never allow that, and they can freely help him now." Sephiroth nodded.

"But..." the Planet said, "this is the perfect time to finish her. Her body is destroyed, only her head remains. And that will be recovered during this plague. That is the perfect moment for you to strike her down, Sephiroth. That way, she can never harm Us, you, or any innocents in her path again."

Angeal and Sephiroth looked at each other.

"When do we start?"


End file.
